Sports Illustrated has published a great article written by Stephanie Apstein about Boyd Martin and his program’s recovery from the True Prospect Fire. The article tells the story about the fire, the grieving, and the recovery to a fantastic finish at Burghley this year.
The most touching part of the article for me is the amazing story of saving Neville that was untold in the days immediately following the fire:
“[Boyd] and his coach, Phillip Dutton, who is the owner of the barn as well as one of Martin’s teammates on the U.S. national equestrian team in eventing, ignored orders and raced inside. The first stall door they reached belonged to Neville Bardos, a then 10-year old gelding whose life Martin had already saved once when he bought him rather than allow his previous owner to send him to the glue factory. By the time they got him out, there was no hope for the others. The barn burned to the ground.“
The article contains a few lines that are indicative of an outlet unfamiliar with our sport including: “[Neville] is one of four horses the USOC has determined that Martin will be eligible to ride if he makes the Olympic team. The others are Mighty Nice, Manior de Carneville and Otis Barbotiere.” That being said, it is a great story and a great chance for the rest of the sports world to experience eventing in its worst and best moments. I give a ton of credit and thanks to Sports Illustrated to finding the story and giving it attention. Hopefully, as is usually the case, the other mainstream media outlets will see the story on Sports Illustrated and cover it themselves. Go eventing.
